Van Halen Tour Grosses Nearly $100M

I know this is quite obvious for the folks really following the live music industry, something we don’t always care to deal with here on the site, but the concert industry bloat really needs to get reigned in somehow. Someone like, needs to do something about this.

When news broke today of the final numbers from Van Halen’s “reunion” tour — a total gross of $93 million — I’m immediately abundantly surprised that there were this many music fans from around the country ready to line up for a nostalgia fest of epic proportions. My experience at concerts like this has been minimally enjoyable, and I guess it depends on how much of a fan you are of the band in question. The big surprise for me was realizing that there were that many VH fans still out there alive and kicking. And willing to spend hundreds on concert tickets…

Though not without setbacks, the Van Halen reunion tour ended up a massive success, wrapping June 2 in Grand Rapids, Mich., with a total gross of more than $93 million and close to one million in attendance from 74 shows.

Let’s let the boomers keeps the stadium shows for now. I don’t plan on getting back into an amphitheater until Phish comes back.